Vita di Luna
by Kupo Stiltzkin
Summary: Collection of FF4 and FF4:TAY drabbles/one shots, some chapters might be connected. Multiple characters and pairings. 3: AU: Rydia never fell off the ship and continued her journey as a seven year old.
1. 5 mm per second

A/N: I haven't written anything in years, so apologies if the grammar and vocabs are off. Collection of FF4 and FF4:TAY drabbles/one shots, some chapters might be connected. Multiple characters and pairings, mostly will be Edge/Rydia centric.

**5 mm per second**

**.**

"It will be sakura season again soon," Edge muttered, holding up a hand to shield his eyes from the blinding rays of Mysidia's midday sun, wincing as he did. "if the fire hadn't burnt all of the trees down."

The word escaped Rydia's lips at first. "Chakra?"

"Sa-ku-ra," he repeated each sylable slowly, while inching his face closer to hers, much to Rydia's irritation.

She pushed him back lightly on the shoulder and he grinned wider, "A blossom for this fruit tree we have back at Eblan."

"What's so special about it?" The very last thing she'd associate with someone like Edge will be a plant, much less something so feminine like a fruit blossom.

"It will bloom fully in early spring, with light pink colored petals. We have-I mean, used to have this small cottage where the yard is planted with sakura trees. When they're all in full bloom, it'd be so bright you thought you'd go blind but that's when you need to truly cherish it."

She pushed back a strand of hair that had gotten in front of her eyes. "Why is that?"

"They didn't last very long." Edge waved his hand down from his face, and gave this motion of things falling slowly, "When the flower petals start to fall, it will be so bright you'd think it's snowing. I used to run around in those petal rain, pretending it was snow. My mother used to scold me about it."

The faltering in his voice didn't escape her ears. He has his back turned at her and she didn't need to look at his face to notice he's probably remembering things-recollections that used to be a fond memory but will stop at nothing to prick the corner of his eyes for years to come.

A sentiment that Rydia knew all too well. Walking forward, she patted his back lightly, and smiled at him. "I'd like to see those trees, someday."

Edge's grin could be seen through his cowl, and without much warning he hooked one arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "It's a date, then."

.


	2. Wardrobe Malfunction

**Wardrobe Malfunction**

**.**

He first heard the stories from Edge a few years back. The Eblan king had too much of the red fruity drink during Cecil and Rosa's banquet, slurring his words with 'member's writ' and 'secret passage underneath the Troia city pub' and 'adult entertainment' that Palom might one day enjoy.

Being five and curious, he had poured more wine into Edge's goblet. But before he could force the drink back in the king's hand, Porom's trusty whack over his head had halted his investigation.

Even in his tender age, he had a vague idea of it. During their travel with the paladin knight, Baronian dancers wouldn't stop their move on Cecil, caressing his face in such a way that made him flush awkwardly. Yang had firmly stated there's a woman armed with frying pans waiting for him back home.

A few gil bills changed hands, a bright yellow ticket was produced and a wall slid back to reveal a staircase that led to a dimly lit stage. When his shoes slid over the lush red carpeting in The Emperor chamber, he decided that King's bounty pub was even more extravagant than he imagined. He grabbed for his gil pouch and counted the coins in his mind. It wouldn't hurt to buy some souvenirs, preferably ones that might make his trip more worthwhile. Especially after the horde of old women tried to-a shudder escaped from him, and he focused on the equipment set offered by a dancer.

"Do you have those in another color? Like bright pink, perhaps?"

The Troian dancer shook her head and somehow it made her chest jiggle in a way that required Palom's sheer willpower to focus on her face. "I am afraid not, sir. But your friend there is welcome to try them first."

"Leonora," he called the epopt candidate over, and saw her fidget at the merchandise laid before him. "Try these on."

Leonora skimmed over the options of wardrobe, ignoring the tang of leather and the way they gleamed under the pub's dim lighting, finally taking them in full view. Her cheeks flared. "I...um, I don't want to."

Palom pinched the bridge of his nose and released a long sigh he has been holding. Good persuasion skills have long eluded him, Porom have told him enough times over the years. "Look, lady, I'm gonna buy these whether or not you like it. Making you wear them in battle is a matter a time."

"B-but I already tried the Queen's whip," Leonora countered, raising her puffy sleeves over her mouth. "I have done what you asked last time, even if it has nothing to do with en-enhancing my magic."

_Persuasion._ Yes, he probably don't have an ounce of persuasion skills or sweet talking in his bones, but the great prodigal black mage of Mysidia knew exactly how to coerce people over the years with his title and the mere mention of his name. He'd rather ride the ship for another month back to Mysidia than missing this chance. Logic has worked better with Leonora, anyway.

"I understand that these equipment might not offer you good defense," Reaching over for the Queen's mask, he put it over his face, making her fidget under his stare, "but it provide you protection from status effects."

"But-"

"Almost all of them in fact," he placed back the mask and reached for the Queen's glove, waving it in the air. "What do you think will happen, if we meet a pack of Malboros, and I got bad breathed, and right when I need Esuna the most, you are _silenced_?"

The thought of mentioning his twin's attire occurred when he was halfway through reaching the Queen's tights. He didn't try to tone down disgust in his voice. "I expect you to leave me there to dry, like you did when that group of...old dancers ganged up on me."

He had half expected her muttering something along the lines of_ I will not be a two gil performer,_ but Leonora hung her head low, and ever so slowly, she nodded with an evident look of defeat.

Palom forced himself not to dance to the tune of the chocobo song right then and there, and settled for a smirk.

.

A/N: In Palom's tale, watching the first 'dance' in Troia's strip club will make his HP drop to 1.


	3. Dance with the Dragons

**Dance with the Dragons**

**.**

The last thing she heard before getting thrown in to the sea was Yang's desperate cry of her name.

Kind, honorable Yang had jumped into the raging seas to save her without a second thought. At first she had thought it would be Cecil, but with his Dark Knight armor, the weight of them would have crushed him under the currents. When Yang finally hurled her back into the deck with the last bit of his strength, Cecil rushed immediately to her side, and held her with a force so strong that Rydia thought he might crush her already tender ribs.

The sea claimed them again, and she didn't see Edward, Yang, and the rest of the ship's crew for weeks to come.

Witnessing Cecil's transformation into a Paladin Knight was an exhilarating experience.

By then, Tellah had learned Meteor, Rosa was back at Cecil's side, and Rydia finally met face to face with the Dragoon again. He had avoided her eyes mostly, but his gruff voice when he talked to her soften a considerable amount.

When the time came, she could only watch as one by one their friends fell into Golbez's scheme.

Palom, Porom and their spell.

Tellah and his vengeance.

Yang and his virtue.

Cid and his sacrifice.

In her dreams, they were all alive and well, tucked safely into a bed, nursed by kind strangers that had found them on some distant shores or side of the valley, much like how Edward ended up in the Troia shore. In her dreams, she liked to pretend they weren't leaving remains of fallen comrades in their wake.

She remembered her mother sending the Mist Dragon to stop two Baron Knights months ago from burning down their village, fully aware of the repercussions, and how it ended up.

Her Eidolons cried the tears she refused to shed. Rydia was barely eight, but she decided she had enough of how easily people threw their lives away for them.

.

The Eblan prince was a mess of bloodied limbs (and as Kain concluded later, a royal pain in the ass).

When he flat out refused their assistance, Rydia finally snapped. "Enough!"

All around her, the adults with full decked armor fidgeted. Rosa placed an affectionate hold on her trembling shoulders, and held her close. The Eblan prince stared at her, oblivious of Rosa's piercing glare and aghast at the sight of her tears.

"Now you made a little girl cry," Kain scoffed, "some royalty you are."

"I-I didn't mean that," the prince muttered, "Fine, I will go with you to the Tower of Babil. So girl, stop crying. Please?"

She looked up to him over her tears, and saw that despite his wounds, he had forced himself a grin.

.

Over the course of their journey, she met the Eidolons royalties, abided their Code and gained their strength as her own.

The Eidolon King had apologized for almost drowning their ship, but Rydia thanked him for his help.

During one of the nights when they didn't make her go to bed early, she would talk to Edge the most. Despite her age, he didn't baby her as much as the Baron trio. Their conversation would revolve around their past often. At first he had wondered how someone as young as her was traveling with three fighters from Baron, but he was quiet as she told him the details of how she left Mist for the very first time.

"It must have been tough for you," he reached out and patted her shoulder with a calloused hand, "your mother would be proud if she can see you now."

A small smile graced her lips, but then she remembered about the fate of King and Queen of Eblan and stopped herself from grimacing.

A proper time to grieve haven't come neither for her nor Edge.

"You know Edge," she twirled her thumbs and looked at him through her bangs, "I can be your family."

Edge's cowl was pulled down around his neck, and she could perfectly see his genuine smile. The laughter he had shown them for weeks had felt forced most of the time.

"You won't be my family."

Rydia's jaw involuntarily slacken. She tried to stop the prickle in her eyes when he continued, "You will be my princess."

Light from the bonfire had cast a soft light on Edge's features, and Rydia felt her cheeks burn. He had never looked more beautiful in her eyes. "Really?"

"Of course!"

She made him give her a pinky promise when he said it was past her bed time and hopped happily back to the tent to sleep beside Rosa, expecting to dream about being an Eblanian princess.

Barren wastelands and Behemoths roaming great halls invaded her dreams instead. The stench of burnt stone and heat of scorching flare from a mighty winged beast was heavy in her nostrils when she woke up.

.

She was the flower girl in Cecil and Rosa's wedding.

All of their friends from every corner of the Blue Planet were invited, and Edge was the first of many to arrive. Shyly, she curtsied and lifted the hem of her dress when he bowed. But Rydia couldn't contain her shriek and giggled as he lifted her high in the air, rose petals dropping from her hair. "Princess! You look so beautiful!"

The ceremony proceeded without a hitch. Palom finally relented in trying to talk to her when he saw Luca had left her father's side to check out the dessert table.

When the party dwindled into a soft roar down the halls, Rosa finally ushered the children back to their assigned bedrooms. She thought of sneaking into Edge's bedroom to catch up on the months that they didn't see each other and ask when he would whisk her away into the castle.

When the drowsiness claimed her, she dreamed of finding herself alone on top of Tower of Babil's crystal chamber, reciting the Eidolon's true names.

.

When Ceodore was born, she was nine.

When Ceodore was eight, she summoned Bahamut and told Cecil and Rosa that she's leaving to find her prince.

The look on the Baron royalties was nothing but utter shock.

"I thank you for the kindness you two had given me over the years," Rydia told her foster parents, "But I belong somewhere else."

Cecil and Rosa was still dabbing the corner of their eyes as she left on Bahamut's back. Ceodore had cried her name over and over after she made them promise they wouldn't send a Red Wings fleet to wherever she goes.

.

Rydia's heels rang with each step she took on the cobbled path to Eblan Castle. Time had restored the place back to its former glory.

She had sent him letters over the years, each and every one of them meticulously folded and written in special Damcyan ink, and waited impatiently for his reply.

The seneschal gave her a quick scan and told her His Young Highness had gone out to patrol, so when she caught up with him on the outskirts of the cave of Eblan, the first thing she did was tackle him to the ground.

It was only later she found out that he had let her do it. If she has been someone-or something else, her fate would have been entirely different.

Time has been kind to her. Rosa had told her repeatedly that with her looks, Rydia could easily make any boy prostate at her feet. But Edge stared at her from his position, looking nothing but completely shocked.

She saw him gulp. "Rydia? I haven't seen you in... years?"

"Ten, to be exact," she answered for him, "Why didn't you visit more often?"

"I've been busy," he ran one hand over his hair, "got a country to run."

"Well, you could have come at Ceodore's birthday party," she accused, "I missed you."

"Me too," he admitted.

"Anyway, I'm here for that promise."

One of his eyebrows shot up. "Promise?"

"You said you'd make me your princess when I have come of age," Beneath her, Edge's body made a noticeable rattle. "I am seventeen this year."

When his eyes widened for a fraction of second, the realization that it has slipped his memory dawned on her. "You forgot," she accused with a touch of fury.

"I didn't," came his too quick response, "I just never thought that you would-"

"Remember? You made a pinky promise to a seven year old, Edge," she pulled at the lapels of his robe until their faces were mere inches apart, "Of course she would remember."

By nature, she knew what the evident bobbing of his adam's apple meant. Edge had his hands at the back to support his weight, but his eyes linger for a moment longer than intended on her curves. The years and Rosa's upbringing had turned her gangly limbs into a shapely body that most girls envied.

After what seems like hours passed, "This will be awkward," he admitted, "Cecil and Rosa will kill me."

"I made them promise not to send the Red Wings."

He grinned at that, and she realized at heart he's still the prince she met at the path to Babil.

"Are you thinking I'm not pretty enough?"

"Gods, no. You're beautiful. Too beautiful, even," Edge exasperatedly ran a hand over his gravity defying silver mane.

"I overheard Edward and Cecil talking. That you sold most of Eblan's royal treasure to fund Mist's reconstruction."

"I thought you might think to return there one day. Meet someone nice," Edge's voice dropped to a low whisper, "Preserve your bloodline. Raise little summoners of your own. Not chase some king old enough to be your father at some corners of the world."

"I don't want someone nice. I want you."

Her last word hung uneasy between them, and with a long sigh Edge pulled his cowl down. With one finger, she traced the long scar that crossed through his right eye lid to his cheek, "I would have stopped you to do something stupid like this."

"Rydia-"

"Are you telling me that after all these years it's just a silly promise you made with a kid?"

"It's not silly to me," Edge countered, "For every time I called you princess, you would smile. You were only a child, and had been through too much. Even if just for a moment," and here his voice started to crack, "It made you happy."

She was pretty sure all the air from his lungs were knocked out when she lunged forward to hug him, and he tumbled down to his back with her on top of him. She strangled a sob and heard him sigh.

"See? You should find someone that didn't make you cry," he muttered to her hair.

"This is tears of happiness," she managed between sobs.

When she finally managed to quell her tears, she caught Edge's face on her palms and pulled him down to her. Her own tears had tasted a bit like the sea mixed with the taste of Edge on her lips, but she already forgot about it when he kissed her back.

.

A/N: was rewatching Game of Thrones season 3 when I noticed a certain scene between Arya and Gendry. It was kinda difficult to make Edge sound not like a pedobear. OTL


End file.
